Monday, March 16, 2020

Coronavirus 13

16th March 2020We can do a lot whilst waiting for our government to get its act together.1. Assume that we have Covid-19. (It might be the case.)2. Behave in a way that slows its spread to other, perhaps more vulnerable, people.3. Maximise personal hygiene. (Soap*) 4. Meet as few people as we can.5. Remember we are doing this to minimise peak demand on NHS so that deaths in the UK can be counted in hundreds of thousands not millions.*That soap thing, it really does work. The virus is essentially a piece of RNA, the genetic bit that allows replication, and some proteins and enzymes that do the damage, all held together with a lipid or fatty material. Here's the vulnerability. If soap touches, it all falls apart. End of virus. So the advice to wash thoroughly with soap is good. Very good. Of course a lot of us will need to interact closely with others to keep society functioning. The above five points still apply and should be kept in mind all the time. Even when we are necessarily with others.

But we all need to do whatever we can. Today I was planning to travel from Lincolnshire to London for the launch of the film, The Sequel, based on the life and works of my late friend David Fleming. It was to be a lovely evening, celebrating David Fleming's vision for the future with the best of people, Caroline Lucas, Kate Raworth, Rob Hopkins and Shaun Chamberlin. It isn't going to happen. Still, there will be an opportunity to share in this no-longer-a-real-event tonight online.More information of how you can join us at The Sequel.

2 Comments:

Anonymous said...

Isn't this what the Government have said? Therefore they must have their act together?

We can do a lot whilst waiting for our government to get its act together.

1. Assume that we have Covid-19. (It might be the case.)2. Behave in a way that slows its spread to other, perhaps more vulnerable, people.3. Maximise personal hygiene. (Soap*) 4. Meet as few people as we can.5. Remember we are doing this to minimise peak demand on NHS so that deaths in the UK can be counted in hundreds of thousands not millions.

I notice the government has not told us all that their experts used an inappropriate disease (viral pneumonia) to model the spread of the virus and now that their predictions have been proven to be completely wrong, they are having to change the advice. I reckon advice about schools will have to change soon too, not just because two teenagers are in ITUs in the Netherlands and Italy, but also because as everyone knows, the school children are not just going to infect each other, but everyone at home too. This is the reason all other countries have closed them.

They still haven't addressed the number one thing of concern: that a lot of people in our society can't afford to self-isolate, even if they think they have the infection. If they don't address this quickly, there are going to be a lot of positive people in service jobs still going to work every day because they can't afford not to.

In Market Rasen various people from the Town Council have set up a Covid-19 Helpers group, and are leafletting elderly and vulnerable people to offer help with shopping or picking things up from the chemists etc. Not that local elderly people seem to be abiding by the instruction to self isolate: the post office was full of over 70s today. It was taking longer than usual to serve as the post office staff have been told to wash their hands between customers. None of the customers were using the hand gel provided. I don't think we should be frightening people unnecessarily, but I do think some of them are in need of some necessary fear.